| Course Title: The Tyrant and the Gladiator: Bad Roman Emperors from Caligula to Commodus |
| Start Date: 10/21/2020 End Date: 12/14/2020 |
| Term: Fall Semester 2020 |
| Description: Caligula was a god (or so he thought); Nero fiddled while Rome burned; Commodus dressed as a gladiator and fought man and beast in the arena. The history of the Roman empire is replete with scandalous stories about eccentric and even insane emperors whose reigns raise questions about the nature of the emperor's power and his role in administering the empire. In this course a close study of Roman imperial biography and historiography--the source of so many of these stories of bad emperors--will be weighed against documentary and archaeological evidence in order to reveal the dynamic between the emperor, his court, and his subjects that was fundamental to the political culture of imperial Rome. |
| Distribution(s): I - Humanities |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| Geoffrey Sumi | 413-538-2277 | gsumi@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 10/21/2020 - 12/14/2020 | Flex. Immersive Lecture | Monday | 08:00AM - 09:15AM | TBA | TBA | Weekly |
| 10/21/2020 - 12/14/2020 | Flex. Immersive Lecture | Tuesday and Thursday | 08:00AM - 09:00AM | Weekly | ||
| 10/21/2020 - 12/14/2020 | Flex. Immersive Lecture | Wednesday and Friday | 08:00AM - 09:45AM | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| None |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| meets history department pre-1750 requirement |
| Course Tags | ||
| CLASS0001 | CLAS: Classical Studies major | This course has been approved to count towards the Classical Studies major and/or minor. |
| CLASS0001 | CLAS: Classical Studies minor | This course has been approved to count towards the Classical Studies major and/or minor. |
| ANCST0001 | ANCST: Ancient Studies major | This course has been approved to count towards the Ancient Studies major and/or minor. |
| ANCST0001 | ANCST: Ancient Studies minor | This course has been approved to count towards the Ancient Studies major and/or minor. |
| MOD0002 | MOD-2: Courses meeting in Module 2 | This course meets in Module 2. |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| CLASS-229-01 Bad Roman Emperors |
| HIST-229-01 Bad Roman Emperors |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Closed | Capacity: 18 | Enrollment: 18 | Available: 0 | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| Title: Tacitus. The Annals Author: Yardley, J. C. Copyright: 2008 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 9780192824219 Publisher: Oxford University Press |
Required | 16.95 |
| Title: Suetonius. Lives of the Caesars Author: Edwards, Catherine Copyright: 2000 Edition: Volume: ISBN: 97802832719. Publisher: Oxford University Press |
Required | 12.95 |
| Title: The Death of Caligula Author: Wiseman, T. P. Copyright: 2014 Edition: 2nd Volume: ISBN: 9781846319631 Publisher: Liverpool University Press |
Required | 19.95 |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is NOT the complete book list for this class. |
| Instructor's comments about the book list: The last book on the list "Death of Caligula" is available as an e-book through the MHC library. |